Alexander Melville, Marketing Team Lead at WeShape, here tells us about using his skills to help other people, and about how through volunteering he learns about himself. We also hear about the skills he’s gained and why volunteering is now easier than ever before to fit into a busy schedule.

Why do you volunteer?
I like utilising my skills to help other people. You can learn so much about other people’s circumstances and learn a lot about yourself in the process. Volunteering is something that has become an integral part of my focus for 2023. Previously, I hadn’t engaged with volunteering as much as I would’ve liked, and ELBA has given me the opportunity to make this a priority by offering up dozens of different volunteering opportunities around east London each month. Through Hot Opps (email Forida forida.khanom@elba-1.org.uk to sign up), it’s easy for me to choose which I would like to partake in. I volunteer because I like to utilise what I have learned in my career to help others who are in very important stages of their lives. For example, I have done CV reviews and mock job interviews with secondary school students. I used that time to engage with them about my career subject (marketing) and what it can bring to their careers.

What have you gained from your volunteering experience?
Confidence in talking about my career subject. I’ve found that when volunteering, in being able to explain what I do and why my subject is important to others, it helps me to better understand the subject myself. I have also gained a lot of inspiration from interacting with people through volunteering with ELBA, such as the secondary school pupils I have met. I have been inspired by how mature they are, when compared to myself at their age.

With ELBA, I will soon be mentoring a young person who wants to get into marketing. I will be meeting with them every month to assess their goals and help them get there. I’m looking forward to this unique experience in terms of pushing this person towards success as much as I can.

Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague and, if so, why?
I would recommend volunteering because it is a privilege to be able to help other people and something that can bring a lot of joy and pride to your life. Volunteering is now easier than ever thanks to virtual calls and the internet, meaning previous distance and time barriers are no longer there. Many volunteering opportunities are now virtual meaning that the time commitment can fit into even the busiest of schedules. Within businesses, just a couple of individuals volunteering can spur many more people to give it a try. And, once they have tried it, they often want to do it more and more.